At least one person died when a "mini-tornado" tore through the northern suburbs of Paris.

The extreme winds began just before 6pm local time on Monday and affected about a dozen towns in the Val-d'Oise region of France. Nine people were injured, four of whom are in a critical condition.

Philippe Court, the head of the local authority, declared the "violent, sudden windy episode" to be a "mini-tornado".

The gusts were so strong they tore off roofs and toppled three cranes. One fell on a centre for disabled children and another on a house.

Videos filmed in Ermont, a village about 20 miles north of the capital, showed the cranes swaying violently in the wind before falling as debris flew through the air.

A 23-year-old employee died at a building site in Pontoise, a village about 19 miles north of Paris.

Although the authorities could not give details, Mr Court said the victim was killed "in a construction area where the mini-tornado passed through". An investigation was opened into possible manslaughter and unintentional workplace injury.

Val-d'Oise deployed 150 firefighters, as well as medical personnel and police, and warned people to avoid wooded areas and places that had suffered damage. In Ermont, a gym was opened to residents left without shelter.

More than 1,500 homes were left without power, mostly in Ermont, and traffic disrupted due to fallen trees on the roads, French media reported.

France has experienced strong winds and rain in the past seven days, due to a lingering anticyclonic weather system. Some towns in the south recorded four inches of rain in 24 hours, according to Météo France, the country's weather service.

Between 40 and 50 tornadoes are recorded in France each year, but they normally fall in the two lowest categories of strength and rarely cause significant damage or loss of life.

The last severe tornado was an EF4 intensity, the second-highest possible, in 2008 in Hautmont near the border with Belgium.

French media reported the gales came with no warning from the authorities.

One woman told Le Parisien: "Suddenly, I saw a stunning whirlwind of leaves and a rainstorm fell on my car. I didn't see anything, it was like a wave was hitting me. The car shook. I stopped because I was afraid of the car keeling over."

Laurent Nunez, the French minister of the interior, said he was "following the situation closely" and offered support to emergency services and residents. He also expressed his condolences to the family of the man who died.

The windy weather was expected to continue into Tuesday, with parts of the south-west of France to see wind speeds of 30-40mph.